Northwest Digital Archives: Evolving Access to Archives and Special Collections in the Northwest Jodi Allison-Bunnell Orbis Cascade Alliance
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CommonKnowledge Volume 15 , Number 1 Library Catalogs and Other Discovery Tools (Spring 2009) | Pages 31 - 35 July 2014 Northwest Digital Archives: Evolving Access to Archives and Special Collections in the Northwest Jodi Allison-Bunnell Orbis Cascade Alliance Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.pacificu.edu/olaq Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Allison-Bunnell, J. (2014). Northwest Digital Archives: Evolving Access to Archives and Special Collections in the Northwest. OLA Quarterly, 15(1), 31-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.7710/1093-7374.1236 © 2014 by the author(s). OLA Quarterly is an official publication of the Oregon Library Association | ISSN 1093-7374 | http://commons.pacificu.edu/olaq Northwest Digital Archives: Evolving Access to Archives and Special Collections in the Northwest by Jodi Allison-Bunnell s library catalogs that offer general search across them provides researchers Program Manager, access to a wide range of materials with a level of access to information about Northwest Digital Archives, continue to evolve, so do special- collections that is not available through any Orbis Cascade Alliance A ized tools that offer more detailed access to other source. particular types of materials. Few areas have Excellent search engine exposure also en- seen as much activity and as many changes hances access. Each collection in NWDA also over the last ten or fifteen years as archives has a MARC record in WorldCat and a local and special collections. The Northwest catalog, and most of those records link to the Digital Archives (NWDA) program at the finding aid in NWDA through the 856 field. Orbis Cascade Alliance is in its seventh year Members who have digitized materials from of building effective access to archives and collections can link to those images from special collections materials in the North- item-level or folder-level descriptions in the west. The program has evolved over time finding aid in the NWDA database. to meet the changing needs of its member The finding aids are encoded in an institutions and their researchers and will XML document type definition (DTD) continue to evolve to expose these often- called Encoded Archival Description hidden unique collections. (EAD). In the past, finding aids for archival NWDA offers enhanced access to collections were most commonly created as archives and special collections materials typescript or word processing documents. in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Alaska and Some descriptive standards existed, but Washington through a union database local practices prevailed. Unlike library of finding aids, or descriptions of those cataloging, with its natural incentive to materials by collection. Finding aids pro- save costs by sharing and distributing copy vide varying levels of detail on collections cataloging, archives and special collections beyond the MARC record. The ability to items are unique, and nearly all cataloging is entirely original. Descriptive practices have historically been shaped by the nature of each collection, with strong arguments made for particularized rather than stan- dardized practices. With the develop- ment of new library catalogs, EAD, the World Wide Web, and a general mandate Unlike library cataloging, with its natural incentive to save costs by sharing and distributing copy cataloging, archives and special collections items are unique, and nearly all cataloging 31 is entirely original. Example of a finding aid in the Northwest Digital Archives. Vol 15 No 1 • Spring 2009 to improve collection access to expand- climbed to over 15,000 retrievals a month. ing audiences, archivists have developed Since mid-2008, database use has been and begun to adhere to more standardized consistent with 20,000 to 22,000 finding methods for describing groups of archival aids retrieved each month. Over the same and special collections materials. In 2004, three-year period, the pathway that users the Society of American Archivists released of the NWDA site use to get to the find- Describing Archives: A Content Standard ing aids has changed considerably. While Current members of (DACS), which for the first time prescribes researchers first came in primarily through the Northwest Digital minimal and optimal elements that should the NWDA search and retrieval site, that Archives program: be present in any description of items from quickly changed once the finding aids were or groupings of archival materials (Society exposed to search engines through Google Alaska State Library of American Archivists 2004). sitemaps in mid-2006. The proportion of Central Oregon Community NWDA began in 2002 with fund- entry from search engines and referring College ing from the National Endowment for the sites quickly increased to around 50 percent Humanities (NEH) and National Histori- and since October 2007 has stayed around Central Washington cal Publications and Records Commission 90 percent. Of that 90 percent, about two- University (NHPRC). The project grew with addition- thirds are from search engines and one- Eastern Washington State al funding from those same agencies in 2005 third from referring sites, which include Historical Society/Northwest and became a program of the Orbis Cascade library catalogs, Wikipedia, and sites that Museum of Arts & Culture Alliance in 2007. focus on specific subjects. Eastern Washington The Alliance’s administrative and fiscal Google metrics give much more detail University home is the University of Oregon, and the on these visitors and how they behave on NWDA Program Manager is an Alliance the site. The most commonly retrieved Gonzaga University employee. NWDA’s technical infrastructure finding aids are for the Montana State Idaho State Historical Society is hosted by Washington State University, Prison Records at the Montana Histori- with Head of Systems Al Cornish serving as cal Society, the Montana Ku Klux Klan Lane Community College Database Administrator. A half-time student Records and the Expo ‘74 World’s Fair Lewis & Clark College programmer helps him with system main- Records at the Eastern Washington State tenance and development. Member fees Historical Society, and the Bill Bowerman Montana Historical Society support this staff, software, hardware, and Papers at the University of Oregon. Most Oregon Health & Science costs associated with telephone and in-per- visitors are from the United States, but University son meetings. NWDA gained new members there is also significant use from Canada, from the Alliance and began as a program the United Kingdom, Germany, and Oregon Historical Society with thirty-one members in July 2007. Australia. Within the United States, most Oregon Institute of NWDA uses both Google metrics visitors come from within the Northwest Technology and internal reports to track usage. Mem- (primarily Seattle, Portland, Missoula, Spo- bers can access basic usage reports, which kane, and Eugene), but visitors from New show how many of their finding aids are York appear in the top 20. Visitors view retrieved each month, on the member Web an average of two pages on each visit, and site (Northwest Digital Archives http:// stay on each page for just under two and a nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/reports/docu- half minutes. Most keyword searches were ment.pl). These reports show a consistent on personal names, followed closely by upward trend in use. In January 2006, organization names (Google Metrics run 32 only 24 finding aids were retrieved from on nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu for March 1, the database, but by January 2008 use had 2008–January 15, 2009). OREGON LIBRARY ASSOCIATION Improved discovery on the Web also leads to increased collection use. NWDA members report increases in collection use NWDA’s commitment to usability since they became consortium members. In a spring 2008 survey of the membership, principles and testing … has 50 percent of members strongly agreed that resulted in significant changes participation in NWDA has increased the to and important improvements use of their collections, with an additional 31 Current members of percent somewhat agreeing with that state- in the site’s ability to effectively the Northwest Digital ment. Nearly half the members estimated in- serve researchers. Archives program: creases in use at 1 percent to 10 percent, with Oregon State University another one-third estimating increases in use The UTWG formulated usability princi- at 11 percent to 20 percent (NWDA Pro- ples in January 2006 based on Jakob Nielsen’s Pacific Lutheran University gram Assessment 2007). Anecdotally, many work and on Web site accessibility needs for Seattle Municipal Archives members report that researchers increasingly users with disabilities (Orbis Cascade Alli- appear in their reading rooms with finding ance 2006). The group followed with its first Museum of History & aids printed out from NWDA and knowing round of usability testing at the annual meet- Industry exactly what they would like to see. ing of Northwest Archivists in Butte, Mon- University of Alaska The design and functionality of the tana, in May 2006. The test subjects were Fairbanks first NWDA search interface, made avail- other archivists not associated with NWDA. able in summer 2004, were based largely on One UTWG member interviewed subjects University of Idaho the needs and preferences of the archivists and one took notes. Test subjects were al- University of Montana working on the NWDA project. Decisions lowed to explore